Alabama

Mobile spends $400K for plan

The city of Mobile has hired a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., firm to create a new comprehensive plan for the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods.

The city will spend $400,000 for the plan, and it should be finished in late 2008, according to Dan Dealy, a consultant for the city who is the project manager. The EDSA planning firm has been hired for the project.

Mayor Sam Jones said the plan is meant to bring more development to downtown, as well as help the city decide when and where to make infrastructure improvements in the area.

"This is probably one of the most important things we can do to chart the course of the city," he said.

The planning area is bordered on the east by the Mobile River, to the south by Interstate 10 and Duval Street, to the west by Houston Street and to the north by Three Mile Creek and the neighborhoods north of Martin Luther King Avenue.

Dealy, of DSD Services Group in Mobile, said the plan could include suggestions on zoning changes or overlay districts, which are areas that have their own, separate land-use rules.

It could also suggest things such as park improvements, road repaving, new street signs or even enhanced police presence, he said.

Jones said the plan could help attract development that would make downtown more livable, such as grocery stores and movie theaters.

He said at a recent City Council meeting that three major downtown landowners have been in discussions with developers, but none are prepared to move forward with any deals until the city adopts a downtown plan. The council unanimously approved funding for the plan.

This will be the city's first plan for downtown Mobile since 1996, Dealy said. That plan was never adopted by the City Council, so its recommendations were never made part of the city's budgeting process, he said.

That won't happen with this plan, Jones said.

The planning process will take several months, Dealy said. EDSA representatives will review past plans for downtown Mobile and will interview people who represent all facets of the city, he said.

"You don't find some things out," he said, "until you go into the community."